Former British Prime Minister Theresa May said today that she will give up her parliamentary mandate when parliamentary elections are called later this year, the Associated Press reported.
In this way, she ends her 27-year career in the House of Commons.
May told local newspaper the Maidenhead Advertiser that her work to combat human trafficking and modern slavery takes up most of her time. “Looking ahead, I realized that I will no longer be able to fulfill my official duties as a deputy in a way that I consider correct and that my constituents deserve,” explained the former prime minister.
May, who is 67, has been an MP for Maidenhead in West London since 1997. She held several positions in government, including being Home Secretary between 2010 and 2016, before being elected Conservative leader and Prime Minister. May led the government in the chaotic situation that arose after the referendum on Britain’s exit from the EU. She became the second woman to head the cabinet, after fellow party member Margaret Thatcher.
In the end, Brexit turmoil derailed May’s tenure as prime minister and she resigned from the leadership of the Conservative Party.
She had a strained relationship with then-US President Donald Trump, who accused her of “making a mess” of Brexit.
Unlike many former prime ministers, who often leave parliament shortly after stepping down as cabinet leaders, May remained a shadow MP while her three Conservative successors – Boris Johnson, Elizabeth Truss and Rishi Sunak – grappled with the political and economic consequences of Brexit. May has occasionally publicly criticized her more populist successors, and particularly Johnson, whose political machinations contributed to her ouster as prime minister.
In May, Sunak wrote on the X social network that May was “a model public servant”.
Sunak is due to call an election by the end of this year, with the exact date up to him. He said the vote would likely take place in the fall. The results of polls show that the Conservatives, who have been in power since 2010, are far behind the main opposition force – the Labor Party.
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